Lost In You
by Thine Dreamer Doth Take Flight
Summary: Two-Shot. Jin/OC. Read if you will, because I cannot summarize this. No Flames!
1. Part One

_A/N: This is my first, and probably my last, attempt at a **Tekken** story. Unfortunately, I have only ever played **Tekken 4**, and that was only because my sister got it as a gift for Christmas one year. Even so, I find the series very intriguing...But also very, very hard to fight in! Gah! I kick ass in it, don't get me wrong, but only with a few characters and it absolutely kills my hand that we can't use analog! But you didn't come to this story to hear me complain about the game. You came to read what I've managed to come up with, and for that I thank you. So let's get on with the story, shall we?_

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><p><strong>Lost In You-Part One<strong>

"Stop her! Don't let her get away!" he called in Japanese as she broke out of the lab in an attempt to become free.

Her pale blue eyes widened in fear, but she didn't have time to be afraid. She had only this one chance at freedom, this one chance to escape the Mishima compound and be rid of this torture forever. Her legs kept moving despite her fear, carrying her through the halls as she heard the Tekken Force coming together behind her in their attempts to stop her from gaining her freedom. In her state, she wouldn't be able to find them for long if she could fight them at all. She had never been a fighter, and being the guinea pig for the Mishima Zaibatsu had hardly given her any experience in that field. She was only useful for her blood, not her skill. Once they unlocked her secrets and found a way to use them on themselves, she wouldn't be needed anymore.

If the experiments didn't kill her and they found what they needed, she would be dead.

Heihachi's soldiers appeared on her sides, easily keeping pace with the weak girl. They could overtake her at any moment and corner her like an animal, and then they'd take her kicking and screaming back to Doctor Abel. Her body would be subject to more tests and experiments, trying to mix her blood with the evilness of the old man's son's genes for a positive outcome. The pain there would be more unbearable than swift death, as it had been for almost a year now. She promised herself she wouldn't let that be the rest of her life when she jumped off that table, and she wasn't about to break a promise.

Somehow she found the strength within herself to run faster, forcing the Tekken Force to pick up speed. But despite her adrenaline rush, it seemed she could not get away from them. The Tekken Force was toying with her. Even she could sense that. But why? Did they think she was really that easy to defeat? Did they believe she was not worth their best effort to catch? Or was there another reason for their lax pursuit?

The purple-haired girl soon found the answer when she came upon the door that would lead her to freedom…locked and sealed tight. The Tekken Force had known she could not escape that easily—she should have known better—and let her live in her delusions only to prolong her torment. The girl swore in Japanese as she pressed her back against the door, facing the unseen faces of the Tekken Force while trying to mask her panic. Defiance shown in her pale blue eyes; she would not go back to that life while she was still conscious. They would have to beat her down until she stayed there.

She put her arms up in front of her body, fists clenched tightly, though she knew they knew she didn't know how to fight. The soldiers might be expert fighters and she just a weak little girl, but she wasn't going to let them take her now. She had suffered enough in this damn compound. Her life had been unrightfully taken from her, and she was going to take it back even if it cost her everything. She stared down the Tekken Force, feeling their eyes on her in their stupid helmets, letting all the panic and fear leave her only to be replaced by fighting spirit.

But they didn't give her the chance to try to fight. Before she could even make her first move, they struck. Kicks and punches impacted her body, knocking her back into the locked door that would have led the freedom. It was all she could do not to cry out in pain and try her best to block their powerful blows with her arms. They were Heihachi's elite; they could easily destroy her if they wanted to do so. If she wasn't needed for the old man's plot, she probably would have been destroyed. But as she was still needed, they had to hold back on the lethal force. She felt them holding back with every blow they landed on her. Their blows still hurt so much that she was coughing up blood and covered with bruises by the time they let up to see how she fared. She collapsed to the ground, barely conscious after just one round with seven soldiers.

All her noble thoughts had been for nothing. She stood no chance against them, and no chance against Heihachi. She had to accept it…Freedom was no longer a choice for her. All that remained for her was a short life of pain that would be ended when Heihachi got what he wanted from her. Tears fell from her eyes as she let herself give up, feeling so weak as she laid in pain on the cold stone floor of the Mishima Zaibatsu compound, unable to help herself. She could almost feel the Tekken Force laughing at her though no sound came from these hardened soldiers. Surely they were laughing at her on the inside, mocking her weakness.

"…Just…Just finish it already…," she sobbed in Japanese, closing her eyes against the flood of tears while her body trembled with pain and misery alike.

She didn't want to see whatever they chose to do, whether it was knock her unconscious to make her more manageable or just take her as she was back to Doctor Abel. Either way, it would just end in agony. So she lay there, waiting for her inescapable fate.

But fate had other things in mind.

She heard the door behind her unlock and rise to open, and once it did so she felt the heat of the sun on her skin, something she had almost forgotten since becoming Heihachi's captive. It felt good, but it did not soothe away her fears. What was going on now? Were they taunting her further with how close her freedom was and how far away she would be from it? Couldn't they just take her back and let her die already? Her curiosity forced her eyes to open towards the light, and she received her answer.

There stood a man who was not one of the Tekken Force soldiers. The sunlight illuminated his silhouette, showing no armor or helmet whatsoever that all of Heihachi's men wore. She couldn't make out anything else with the rays and the tears getting in the way, but she knew this guy, whoever he was, could save her if he wanted to do so. If he wasn't just another bad guy that wanted to use her like Heihachi, that was.

The Tekken Force seemed to recognize him, but not in a friendly way. They responded to his appearance by trying to attack him. He easily met their attacks with his own or he simply blocked or dodged them completely. Seven against one was unfair, and at first the girl on the floor doubted this mysterious man could escape this alive or in one piece. But then one soldier fell to the ground unconscious, and then another collapsed as well. Whoever this guy was, he was good. He could not just match one Tekken Force soldier in battle, but seven.

She watched his moves, seeing two things in them. One was the traditional karate style of fighting that he employed very well but not completely perfectly. The other was something that made her a bit afraid. Along with the karate, this man also used some Mishima moves that she recognized from seeing Heihachi train on poor people that stood no chance against him. The Tekken Force might have fought against him, but this strange man had some connection to Heihachi Mishima. Shouldn't she be afraid of him for that?

The weak girl could not come up with an answer before her mind dissipated into the darkness that was unconsciousness. The last thing she saw was the last of her pursuers falling to the ground and the mystery man taking a step towards her.

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><p>She came to some time later, lying in a bed in a dark room that she didn't recognize to be in the Mishima compound. Her instincts took over before her battered body could remind her of her pain; she sat up in search of danger and Doctor Abel in fear that this was just another trick. Only one figure was in the room besides her, and he was seated in a chair across the room from her. He didn't look like he wanted to hurt her—he didn't even seem to be awake at the moment. She lowered her guard when no danger made itself known, wondering what had happened to her.<p>

The pain inflicted upon her by the Tekken Force fell on her full force, making her cry out unintentionally for a moment before she forced herself to catch it in her throat. That one noise was enough to wake up the man in the chair. She saw, even in the dark, his head snap up and turn in her direction. Sunlight filtered through the drawn curtains of this place, allowing her to see his silhouette as he stood and started towards her. It was the same silhouette she had seen before, the one of the man that had fought the Tekken Force. He had taken her away to some place she didn't know. But what was he going to do with her?

She whimpered in fear of him, remembering how easily he had dispatched the Tekken Force with moves similar to that of Heihachi Mishima, putting her hurting arms in front of her body instinctively in a poor attempt to keep him away. The man came to a stop just a few steps away from where she lay.

"…You have no reason to be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you," he said, but it was not in Japanese and therefore she did not understand him.

"…What did you say?" she asked in a shaky voice in her native tongue.

He repeated his previous words in their native tongue, and she tried her best not to be afraid of him. She did believe that he wouldn't hurt her; if he had wanted that, he could have done so at any time before now. But her body wouldn't stop shaking, no matter how hard she tried to get it to stop. It still trembled in fear from the memory of what she had seen.

"Who…Who are you? And why…Why do you fight like Heihachi Mishima?" she cried without making eye contact with the man.

He did not answer her right away, but she felt a bit of anger come into the man when she spoke the name of the old fighter that used her. Whoever this guy was, he sure didn't like Heihachi, just as she didn't.

"My name…is Jin Kazama," the man muttered after a moment.

Things came together then. The girl recalled Heihachi cursing such a name often enough while she was in his captivity. Heihachi swore he would obtain the power in Jin's blood the next time they met, no matter what the cost, and combine it with the power within her own in order to become unstoppable. He wanted the power, and then he vowed to kill his grandson. With a grandfather like him, she couldn't blame Jin for hating that guy.

"Who are you? Why was Heihachi holding you prisoner?" Jin demanded.

"…I am Yua Ran…," the girl murmured, trying to sit up again so she could face this guy, but as soon as she tried the pain screamed through her body and made her cry out in pain. Jin advised her not to move, that the damage inflicted upon her by the Tekken Force would take days to heal and movement would just hurt her. She trusted him and let herself fall back on the pillows. "…Heihachi…He was using me…as a test subject in his quest…to find a way to use the Devil Gene inside his own body…without it devouring him completely. I…I have been his prisoner…for about a year now…"

Jin growled in anger, but not at her. This anger was directed at his grandfather, who had not only betrayed him, but was doing evil just to harness evil in his body. Yua saw his hands clench into fists in the darkness, wishing she could see what he was feeling on his face rather than through his body movements. This man had saved her, but she had no idea what he looked like. Perhaps he wanted it that way. Heihachi wanted him in his labs, too, in order to find a way to use the Devil Gene within himself. If she was ever caught and brought back to the Tekken Force, Heihachi would want any information he could get out of her about his grandson. Jin was protecting himself this way, and to a lesser extent, he was also protecting her by blocking out knowledge.

"…Why did you even come to the compound? Wouldn't…Wouldn't you be safer staying away from there…? And…Why did you save me?" Yua asked.

"…A friend of mine in the Korean military told me Heihachi was doing something wrong. There had been reports in Kyoto about an orphanage being raided by a military force, and a teenage girl being taken by those soldiers. My friend didn't know why Heihachi would take a girl at all, and I still don't understand it. But I could not just stand by and let him harm the innocent. Even if it put my own life in danger, I had to stop him. You were lucky he did not change the password since the last time I was there, or else you would still be in his captivity," Jin replied.

"Girl? I'm practically a woman, you know. Another year in that orphanage and they would have thrown me out, anyway," Yua grumbled. "But…That's not important anymore. What matters now…is that Heihachi is going to be hunting me down until he has me again. I'm going to have to go on the run so he doesn't obtain my blood."

"Your blood? What does he want with your blood?" Jin wanted to know.

Yua sighed, but in her state it sounded more like a ragged breath. "You know about the Devil Gene that is in your blood…The evil gene you inherited from your father, Kazuya?" Jin's grunt was enough of an answer. "…In my blood, I carry an opposing gene to the Devil Gene…A gene Heihachi calls the Angel Gene. It has been in…my family for generations, inactive mostly save in times of war. But…It has never been used in conjunction with the Devil Gene. The Devil Gene…It is new, only found within you and your father…So they've never clashed. But Heihachi…He wants its power…without its consequence…And to get that, he…he has to find a way to balance the Devil Gene and…the Angel Gene, along with…the blood of a man named…Ogre."

"I see," Jin said. "You should rest. You've been through quite a bit today, and your wounds need healing. Don't you worry about Heihachi and the Tekken Force. They won't get you now, or ever again."

"…But…But if we stay in one place for too long…they'll-" Yua stammered, trying once again to sit up only to have the pain scream through her broken body.

"Calm down, Yua. I promise they won't find you. Not as long as there's breath in my body and I can continue to fight. I won't let Heihachi get his hands on you for his dark purposes. I'd die before I let that happen. A man like him…He does not deserve such power, good or otherwise, to use on this world as he pleases. The Mishima line is tainted, and it's my duty to end it before it gets out of hand," Jin swore.

Yua blinked in surprise at the dark silhouette that was Jin. "…Is…Is that why you…you go by your mother's maiden name? Because of…the evil of your father…and Heihachi?"

He nodded. "That…and my mother was…a noble woman."

"I wish…I wish I could've met my parents…Maybe then, none of this would have…" Yua trailed off as the darkness descended on her mind again, only from fatigue this time.

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><p>Yua Ran came to every now and then for the next three days, but she always woke up to darkness. Jin took care of her and kept her safe—she wasn't even sure if he slept—and he promised to continue to do so until she could take care of herself again. She was always tired and had trouble moving, but over time the pain lessened so that she could sit up without pain screaming through her and feed herself. She still had no idea what he looked like, but it didn't matter. What mattered was that she could trust him. That was something she hadn't been able to do with anyone since she was stolen from her orphanage over a year ago.<p>

She didn't know where they were or how far away from Heihachi they were. She didn't even know where Jin got her pain meds to ease her suffering or the money to keep them in this hotel. Yua probably didn't want to know the answers to these questions. It might make the panic rise in her again, as it had when she was trying to escape from the Mishima and when she first encountered Jin alone. If there was one thing Yua was good at, it was panicking. She had been that way ever since she could remember, and bad habits died hard. This one wasn't liable to go away anytime soon, no matter how protected she was by Heihachi's worst enemy. Even knowing that he couldn't get her while Jin was around couldn't stop her from wondering when their time was about to run out, for surely it was running short despite Jin's promise that they wouldn't be found.

The combination of pain meds and time gave Yua enough strength to get out of bed in that period of three days. Jin left her for twenty minutes—some of the longest minutes of her life—and returned with some clothes for her to change into after she showered. She thanked him for his kindness, bowing respectfully, before heading for the bathroom. There was no window in the bathroom, so that eliminated any chance of the Tekken Force breaking in on her while she was in here. She locked the door, stripped down, and climbed into the steamy water, being cleansed for the first time in a long time.

What Jin brought her to change into wasn't anything special, but it was a nice change to her usual white scrubs that she had to wear as a guinea pig. Plain undergarments—she wondered how awkward he had felt buying those with a small smile—accompanied by a gray tank, blue jeans, a black jacket, socks, and even a pair of white tennis shoes. He hadn't missed the simple fact that she hadn't been wearing any; she hadn't worn shoes since becoming a lab rat because lab rats didn't need them. It would take some getting used to those things again, but she wouldn't mind. She just appreciated the gesture.

Yet, she couldn't shake the feeling that things could be different. As she pulled her purple hair back into a ponytail, Yua realized the sad truth of the matter. If she wasn't wanted by Heihachi as a way of controlling the Devil Gene and didn't possess its light counterpart, Jin Kazama could care less what happened to her. Hell, even Heihachi wouldn't care for her in the least. She'd still be back in that orphanage…No. She'd be out in the world, struggling to survive on her own. Where would she be? Even Yua couldn't say. But there would be no one to help her, no one to protect her from the dangers of this world. If she wasn't who she was, she'd be all alone right now…Probably dying inside and out.

She gripped the edges of the sink, unable to look at herself anymore as the tears started falling from her eyes. If it wasn't for the Angel Gene, she'd just be another orphan girl in this world without a purpose. What did the world care if she disappeared, really? Her existence mattered little. Even with the Angel Gene, no one would care if she ceased to live. Heihachi would just regret that he hadn't unlocked the secrets of her blood and return to trying to capture Jin. Even he, the old man she despised with every fiber of her being for forcing her to endure all those tests, would forget about her if she faded away. And wouldn't it be better if she did? If she wasn't alive, Heihachi couldn't use her powers as his own to overcome the control of the Devil Gene. She was more of a burden to the world alive than dead. Shouldn't she just end it now while her body was weak?

A soft knocking came at the bathroom door. "Yua, are you all right in there?"

Yua swallowed hard and quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. Jin had already seen her weak before; the tears would just add to that weakness. "Yeah…I'm fine." Her voice was still shaky, but it had been that way the whole time Jin knew her. He wouldn't know the difference. "I'll be out in a moment."

She tossed her bloodied and dirtied scrubs into the trash, wishing she could throw herself away just as easily, before unlocking the bathroom door and stepping out into the rest of the hotel again. Jin had retreated into the shadows in order to avoid being seen in the light from the bathroom, so Yua granted him peace of mind by quickly flipping the switch. Besides, she didn't want Jin to know she was now not only weak in body, but also in spirit. A strong, capable man like him need not be burdened by her any more than he already was. She just returned to sitting on the bed in silence, waiting for the world to come crashing down on her like it should have done long ago.

"…There's something bothering you," Jin said, causing Yua's head to snap up in his direction in surprise. "Try and hide it all you like, but there's very little that can get past me. Since we're stuck together until you're fully healed, you might as well tell me."

Yua buried her face in her knees. "…I don't want to be a further burden…to you or the rest of the world. You've done enough for me already, Jin. I don't need to put anything else on your shoulders, especially nothing as petty as…my problems."

Jin let out a humph. "I went to school, you know, and most of my closest friends are girls. If it makes you feel any better, I've heard plenty of petty problems. It's never hurt me any to listen to them, and it's definitely not a burden."

"…No offense, but it doesn't make me feel any better. And I don't want to tell you anything because it's not worth talking about," Yua murmured. "…Shouldn't you be asking me about Heihachi or the Angel Gene or something? You know, learn something useful before you decide to go after that jerk to end the Mishima line?"

"Would you rather talk about that than yourself?" Jin asked. Yua's silence was enough of a response. "Very well then. What exactly is the Angel Gene? How does it work? How powerful is it? Can it really counteract the Devil Gene?"

Yua sighed. "I'm not sure of all the details. I didn't even know I had it until I turned ten and got into an accident at the orphanage that brought the gene out in me. But basically, the Angel Gene is like the Devil Gene, only opposite. It's like this. There's me, and then there's the angel version of me living inside my soul, dormant until I need it to come out. Like with the Devil Gene, only in that case there's you and the devil version of you. The Angel Gene does not try to take dominance of the body; it's only there to preserve the body when human means cannot do so alone. Heightened strength, speed, and healing are a few of the abilities that carrying the Angel Gene provide, and from what I've heard from Heihachi, that is similar to what the Devil Gene does to its carrier. But the difference is, the angel does not have to be in control for my body to gain these abilities unless I want the abilities completely. So, say, if you wanted to be rid of me faster, I could turn into Angel Yua and be healed much quicker than I would be just lying around here waiting for my body to heal on its own with a little aid from my angel self."

"So, just like with the Devil Gene, there is a transformation," Jin assumed.

"Yes, but unlike with the Devil Gene, I have control over my transformation…except when my life's in danger. Then the angel comes out whether I like it or not," Yua replied, glancing away from Jin's dark form as she added that last part. "Thus far, I've only transformed into Angel Yua five times, and the first time was when I was ten at the orphanage as I've mentioned before. Some older, meaner orphans were beating up on me, so I ran out in the street to get away from them only to get hit by a car. If I had not turned into my angel counterpart, I would have died then…" Yua's voice caught in her throat for a moment, something that did not go unnoticed by Jin, but he did not bring it up because she did not seem to want to talk about it. "The other four times have been during my imprisonment, when Heihachi gave me no other choice than to turn into the angel. And she's changing because of what he's done to me. There's a hole in her light now, a hole caused by Devil Gene-tainted blood being pumped into me."

Jin moved in a way that could only mean he was shocked. "He…He injected the blood of one carrying the Devil Gene into you?"

"Yes. That's his main test with me, to see how much of the devil my angel can handle. He takes out some of my blood and replaces it with blood he gathered from his son before he threw Kazuya into a volcano, and then he sees how the balance turned out by trying to get either the devil or the angel to come out. The Angel Gene and the Devil Gene fight within me… The pain is immeasurable by words. Sometimes the battle almost kills me, and the Angel Gene isn't strong enough to stop it. When Doctor Abel sees that result coming, he quickly puts my blood back into me to strength the angel so the devil recedes," Yua explained, trembling with the memories. "The blood of with the Devil Gene remains in my system, though, and mingles with my own. Thus when I transform into the angel, her pure form is no longer as pure as it used to be." Yua rested a hand just under her breasts and below her heart. "On her, this is the place where the dark hole appears, caused by the devil eating away at her strength. It started off no bigger than the size of a marble, but now it's the size of an over-inflated beach ball. As time passes and the devil gets stronger, the hole can only get bigger."

"Then are you saying the Devil Gene is stronger than the Angel Gene?" Jin asked.

Yua shook her head. "It's not stronger. At least, not yet. But it has the power to eat away at the Angel Gene to make it weaker. If my body wasn't constantly producing new blood, the Devil Gene may have eaten away all of the angel's power by now. Then again, if I hadn't kept getting those blood injections, the Angel Gene would have defeated all of the devil's strength by now as well. My body is a special case, a sacred battleground. If such a battle was found inside my body that produces the Angel Gene, I can only wonder what damage it could do to someone that has neither the Devil nor the Angel Gene. If Heihachi really wanted to see what it could do to him, he would have done well to inject blood containing both genes into the body of a normal human." An ironic smile came onto Yua's face. "I guess he just liked hearing me scream and didn't want to ruin the sound by adding in another agonized voice."

"…Do you know what might happen if someone with the Devil Gene was injected with blood containing the Angel Gene?" Jin wanted to know.

"I can only assume you want to know because you do not want to deal with your patrimony any longer. I would guess it would result in the same thing happening to your devil that happened to my angel. A hole would appear in him, but the hole would not be of darkness. Instead, it would be made of the same light that my angel is made of. But before you get any crazy ideas, you should know that the devil would not appreciate being suppressed and might attack your soul. The angel would fight it despite being weaker, and the pain from their battle would be very great. You wouldn't be able to move for hours, let alone fight. You're better off just dealing with the demon wholly and not trying to weaken it. It's not worth the pain or the effort," Yua advised.

Jin was silent for a moment. "Yua, what did you mean about the angel coming out whether you like it or not? Do you…want to die?"

Yua's eyes widened and her voice suddenly became lodged in her throat.

"And when you were speaking of the first time you transformed into Angel Yua, you said that you would have died if not for her…Your voice caught for a moment, like you regretted not dying then," Jin continued. "Do you really want to die? Why would you want to do something like that?"

The purple-haired girl buried her face in her knees again, doing everything in her power to keep from crying. "…What's the point of living if you don't have a purpose? I haven't had a reason to live…since the day my parents passed away and I was sent to that horrible orphanage. With no purpose, I am…unnecessary. Heihachi kind of gave me one, but it's one I don't want to accept. All the more reason to not exist, I guess…That'd be one less unnecessary person on this planet. There? Happy now? You got what you wanted from me…"

Despite her best efforts, tears flowed from her pale blue eyes for the second time that day, darkening her jeans where they were absorbed. She felt weak—she had always felt weak—and nothing could ever change that. Yua had never been strong, never had confidence in herself. She had been an easy target for bullies at the orphanage and at school, subject to constant harassment and attacks of both the verbal and physical kind. No purpose in life made her feel worthless, and everyone sensed that. That's why they took advantage of her. Even when they had seen her transform into the angel, the insults never stopped. She considered herself a failure and hated herself completely just as much as she hated Heihachi and Doctor Abel, if not more. The world would be better off without her existence. That's something she had always believed, but she had never carried out the end of her life because she was too weak to do so and the angel would just revive her from the brink of death.

"I had no idea…that I rescued a suicidal fool," Jin muttered, turning away from her.

Yua's squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she could disappear now more than ever. Jin knew what kind of person she was and regretted saving her now. He shouldn't have done so in the first place. A man as strong as him could probably take down Heihachi no matter what powers that old man obtained. Her death and her blood would not have caused him all that much trouble. But…It was too late to change that. All he could do now would be leave her to be found by the Tekken Force. She wouldn't blame him if he did.

"Do you really believe that you have no purpose in life? That you don't matter at all and the world doesn't need you? If that were so, you never would have been born. The world does not create unnecessary people. Everyone has a purpose. They just have to stay strong long enough to find it," Jin said, but his voice was no longer harsh as it had been a moment ago. "For the longest time…I found myself without a purpose. My mother was missing…Presumably dead…And my grandfather had betrayed me in his lust for power. I was alone and had no reason to continue on. But then I found my purpose—I would put an end to the evil Mishima line and keep the Devil Gene from tainting more people that do not deserve to be controlled by darkness. That is what I have been training for during this past year as I try to unlearn what Heihachi taught me…His accursed fighting style. Unfortunately, I used that damned style when I fought the Tekken Force, which was perhaps the reason you were scared of me…But I will break it before I destroy him."

"So…You have a purpose. A noble, significant purpose. But…But what can a person like me have as a purpose in life? A weak, cowardly little girl…I can't even fight. I could not stand against anyone…even if I wanted to do so," Yua whimpered.

"I cannot hold all the answers you seek, Yua. Some things you'll have to find out on your own." She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to find that Jin was now standing beside her. "But you can change yourself into something not weak or cowardly. You can learn to be strong and stand against anything…But only if you believe in yourself. That is something you lack that no one should ever live without. Confidence is in some ways even more important than having a purpose in life. So, to answer your question, a person like you can have an infinite number of purposes. You just have to find the one worth your time and effort…and that will keep you alive even when your life is fading."

Yua stared in awe at the dark shadow of this man. She had thought Jin was just a fighter dead-set on ending the Mishima line, and that he could care less about her feelings. But underneath that hard exterior, this guy had a kind heart that had room enough for any and all he met. It just didn't handle betrayal very well, if his hatred for Heihachi was anything to go by. He may not know her all that much, but he had risked his own safety to save her from the dark torment she had come to know, and he was doing so much more for her than just that. Could she ever repay him?

She managed a small smile as she wiped away her tears on her sleeve. Perhaps she was not so hopeless, after all…

"We're going to have to move. The Tekken Force will have located us by now. I was waiting for you to be able to move on your own before we left…And we're probably going to have to run. Is your body up to it?" Jin asked as he pulled his hand away from her shoulder and pulled something over his head.

Yua nodded once. "I'll be just fine."

"All right then. Pull your hood over your head and stay close to me. No matter what happens after we get out of this place, don't look back," Jin told her.

Obediently, Yua pulled the dark hood of her jacket over her head and stood beside Jin. She followed him out of their locked hotel room and was almost blinded by the bright light of the sun shining through the windows in the hall. Jin grabbed her hand and pulled her down several flights of stairs in a hurry; it was all Yua could do to keep up with him. He only slowed down when they came into the lobby as to not stand out. She saw no trace of the Tekken Force yet, but knowing them personally, she didn't doubt they would be making their appearance soon. Afraid, she grabbed onto Jin's right arm with both of hers for support. He glanced down at her from the shadow of his hood for a moment before turning his attention back to getting the hell out of there.

This was the first time she had seen him in the light without just seeing his silhouette. Yua turned her attention away from her fears to take him in. He was just a couple inches taller than she was, and he was well-muscled for sure—she could feel it through his jacket sleeve as she clung to him. She couldn't see his face due to his hood being up, but he probably wanted to keep it that way for their own good. His outfit was much to speak of—just a purple and white jacket and pants with flame designs on them, red and white fingerless gloves that reached almost back to his elbow, and sneakers. He wouldn't stand out in a crowd at all, which was probably the point. He didn't want to gather attention from anyone, and especially not Mishima Zaibatsu. Now that she came to think of it, it was probably for that same reason that he had gotten her such normal clothing. The less they stood out, the less likely the Tekken Force was to find them quickly if at all. Jin wasn't just a kind-hearted fighter; he was also very smart.

They were out of the hotel and just about to step onto the streets that would lead them away from this place when a bone-chilling scream ripped through the air. Yua stiffened in fear, feeling the panic rise inside of her, and almost wanted to look back to confirm her suspicions. Smoke rose into the sky, and loud crashing noises filled the silence with their terrible tales. Yua knew for certain if they had not left when they did, the Tekken Force would have gotten them just now. Her body trembled in fear of this realization, stilled only when she felt Jin's hand on the small of her back.

"You're safe, Yua. They won't get you as long as I remain alive. I promise," Jin whispered as he continued to lead her away from what had once been a hotel.

She closed her eyes against the tears, praying that he would be able to keep that promise.

* * *

><p>They remained on the run in Japan for a week more, but they never made the mistake of staying in a building again. They kept moving throughout the day and took turns watching at night, keeping an eye out for the elusive Tekken Force while staying hidden. Yua insisted on taking up watch at night, saying that Jin wouldn't be able to fight very well if he was exhausted, which was the only way she could get Jin to concede. She kept a panicky eye out for danger as he slept, hoping this would not be the rest of her life.<p>

She asked Jin where they were going when they reached the western coast of Japan two weeks after she had been freed from Heihachi's control. His answer was simply that they were leaving the country. They snuck onto a cargo ship bringing supplies over to China, giving her a clue as to what country they would be going to in order to get away from Mishima Zaibatsu and its dictator. Despite going out to sea, Jin warned her that they were not safe. The Tekken Force might find them and board the ship before it made landfall in China, and they would have to fight to avoid capture. Yua had to remind him that she was incapable of fighting; she had never learned despite having been bullied and attacked for years on end. If he wanted her to fight, he would have to teach her.

Having no other choice and no other pastime, he did just that.

They had only a couple of days until that ship would reach China, but they put that time to good use. He showed her the basics of fighting, mostly how to block against strong attacks effectively and to properly punch and kick. He didn't show her the Mishima way of doing it, either—he showed her the traditional karate style that he himself had just been learning. Yua had a brain on her and learned quickly, but she would be no match against Jin if she tried to challenge him. All she had on her was two days' worth of fighting knowledge; it was better than nothing, though.

The duo snuck off the ship when it reached a port in China and avoided being caught by any personnel by luck alone.

"I'll be leaving you with friends. It's for the best if we split up from here on," Jin stated as they made their way through this town in China.

Yua was startled by this. "What? Why?"

"Heihachi wants both of us to become unstoppable. If we stay together much longer and they locate us, it won't be hard for the Tekken Force to capture us and take us to him, especially if they come en masse. For both of our sakes, it's better to be separate so the Force will have to divide in order to find us. Ling Xiaoyu and Panda will keep you safe if the Tekken Force ever find you. You'll have nothing to worry about," Jin told her.

"But…But what about you? Where will you go? What if they find you?" Yua asked.

"You don't have to worry about me. I will be completing my training on another continent where they won't find me, and then I shall complete my purpose in life by ending Heihachi Mishima. I'll be fine, Yua," Jin assured her.

"…If you believe it to be so…I can only trust you, Jin," Yua murmured, and the subject dropped there.

It took them several days to get to the city where Xiaoyu lived and they didn't rest much during those days. To Yua, it almost seemed like Jin wanted to be rid of her as soon as possible. It might be so, considering how much the man wanted to continue his training to unlearn the Mishima fighting style and end his grandfather. But it wasn't just that. He wanted to get her to safety first—he had been concerned with her safety ever since they met in Heihachi's military compound. She had to respect him for his dedication to a little nobody like her. She might even learn to be friends with him if they ever had the time.

They came to Xiaoyu's front door five days after arriving in China, tired and hungry and just plain exhausted from the continuous walking. A girl with dark pigtails that looked younger than Yua answered, a pink dress moving in the wind around her person. Yua didn't see how this little girl could protect her, but she wasn't going to argue. Xiaoyu was ecstatic to see Jin—she wasted no time in jumping on the man and hugging the life outta him—and didn't even notice Yua. The force of her lunge knocked Jin onto his back, forcing his hood to fall down with him. For the first time since she had met him, Yua was able to see his face. It was an attractive face accompanied by a pair of warm yet determined brown eyes and dark hair done up in a strange yet handsome style. Jin caught Yua staring and she quickly looked away, blushing in embarrassment at having been caught looking at his face.

Jin and Xiaoyu stood and exchanged words in a language Yua didn't understand, though she assumed it was Chinese due to their location. She heard Jin mention her name when he gestured towards her and assumed he was explaining what she was doing here. The girl wearing too much pink nodded in understanding, but then seemed concerned when she spoke again with Jin's name often on her lips. Yua could only guess that Xiaoyu was asking about Jin and where he was going. They seemed to get in an argument before the dark-haired man pulled back and turned his attention to Yua.

"Xiao will take care of you," Jin told her in Japanese now. "She knows a little Japanese, so you shouldn't have too much trouble talking to her. She may not look like much, but she can fight almost as well as I can." Xiao snorted in response to this, having understood what Jin just said about her. Jin ignored his friend and continued. "Don't seek me out anytime soon. I don't want Heihachi tracing you back to me, and I don't want you to get hurt. The Angel Gene is a power that should not be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. It's better if you don't get involved with me any further…It's for your own good."

"You can't leave now, Jin! You've hardly had a break since we've met! Please, stay the night with your friend and rest! If you go off now, tired and fatigued as you are, you'll just get yourself killed!" Yua insisted, sounding almost desperate. "Another day won't do that much harm, will it? Can't you just stay one more day?"

"Yeah, Jin. Can't you stay one more day?" Xiaoyu put in, though she spoke with a mixture of jealousy, anger, mocking, and concern.

Jin sighed. "Fine. One day. Then I'm leaving and neither of you should come after me. Is that understood?" The two girls nodded. Jin may not have let himself look it, but he was exhausted and really needed the rest. He let his friend escort him in, too tired to fight her off even now, as Yua trailed in behind them.

A giant panda with pink sweatbands on its front paws and a green purse across its chest stood on its hind legs to greet the guests. Jin and Xiaoyu knew this panda well, but seeing such a huge creature for the first time froze poor Yua right up. She couldn't take another step forward from the doorway when she saw the bear. Xiaoyu giggled at her reaction, and even Jin couldn't stop himself from smiling a little at how scared Yua really seemed of the panda.

"Didn't you tell her about Panda? The poor girl's all froze up," Xiaoyu teased.

"I didn't have the time. We were kind of busy trying to stay ahead of the Tekken Force," Jin pointed out. "I mentioned her once, but didn't go into details. My mistake." He stepped towards Yua to rectify that mistake. "Yua, there's nothing to be scared of. Panda will not hurt you."

"…It won't?" Yua asked in a shaky voice as Jin took her hand and pulled her forward.

"No, _she_ won't. She's a peaceful creature that only attacks those that have bad hearts or try to hurt me and my friends," Xiaoyu stated. "Panda is my best friend…Besides Jin, of course. As long as you don't have darkness in your heart and you don't try to hurt me, you'll be fine." She nodded towards Panda. "Go on. Hug her and see what happens."

"Uh…What if she doesn't like me? I…I don't wanna hug something that hates me…and is that huge. She could rip me in half!" Yua cried.

Xiaoyu sighed. "Panda, show this girl that you mean her no harm."

The bear nodded in her friend's direction to show she understood before taking steps towards Yua. Rather than run like she felt like doing, Yua held onto Jin's arm to quell the fear within. Panda came to a stop directly in front of her and opened her arms wide. She took Yua in her arms, pulling her away from Jin in the process, and hugged her tightly, but not too tight lest she break bones. Yua almost screamed, but then she realized Panda wasn't trying to kill her; she was just getting a hug. Reluctantly, she returned the gesture before being put back on her feet by the gentle giant.

"See? Now was that so bad?" Xiaoyu teased with a cruel little smile.

"Be nice to her, Xiao. She's been through a lot and doesn't need you getting an attitude with her," Jin reprimanded. "You agreed to be nice, remember? Don't tell me you're going back on your word already."

The Chinese girl rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Jin. Come on, Panda. Let's go make dinner so these bums we call friends can eat. They're hungry, and I'm starving!"

* * *

><p>Night descended over China several hours later, plunging the country into darkness. Yua lay wide awake on a spare mattress in the living room of Xiaoyu's home, looking at the ceiling and wishing she could go to sleep. Panda was curled up asleep outside Xiaoyu's bedroom door, and Jin was lying on another spare mattress not that far from where Yua lay. He had fallen asleep shortly after dinner, but if she knew anything about him from these past few weeks of being stuck with him, he wouldn't be asleep much longer. Knowing him, he'd try slipping away under the cover of night to deter their following him to wherever he was going. That was what a smart man would do to elude his friends, and Jin had already proven himself to be smart on several occasions.<p>

Yua heard him stir in the darkness, and out of the corner of her eye she saw his silhouette sit up. She did not move and hardly breathed, not wanting him to know that she was still awake because then he wouldn't make his move. She watched him pull on his jacket—he had removed it before going to sleep and had only been covered on his top half by a plain white T-shirt—and stand in the darkness. Watching him prepare to go made Yua's heart hurt. She didn't want him to leave her so soon, even if it was for her own good and his protection of himself. He had become her friend, her only friend, and she didn't want to lose him.

"Jin," she whispered when he came to stand in the doorway, sitting up as he froze in his actions. "Don't go. Please…Just stay here."

He turned around to look at her just as the clouds moved away from the moon, allowing the moonlight to stream in through the windows. His face was blocked from her view again by his hood…Not that it really mattered anymore. She knew what he looked like and therefore the hood was useless. She felt tears in her eyes as she looked at him looking at her, cursing at herself for crying so much in front of him. But she really didn't want him to leave, not after they had been together for so long and he had taken a place in her battered heart. Yua stood and walked over to him in the silence, not knowing why she was doing it but knowing she had to do something.

"…You should be asleep," Jin muttered. "You haven't rested for seven days."

"Look who's talking. You've rested less than I have and yet you're in a hurry to leave on only five hours of sleep," Yua countered with a small smile on her face. She stood only an inch away from the man that had freed her, staring up towards the place where he hid his face from the rest of the world. "…You shouldn't leave. Not without saying goodbye to your friends…And not at all, really. You're safe here. The Tekken Force cannot just come into China without suffering consequences. It's not like we're in the country they control anymore…You…You don't have to go."

"Yua…We've discussed this before. We cannot stay together in one place. Heihachi needs both of us, and it'll make it too easy for him if we both stay here. The Tekken Force does not play by the rules of the government, and even if they did, they'd be in and out of China with us before China could do anything about it. For that reason, I cannot stay here with you and Xiao," Jin reminded her.

Yua lowered her gaze. "But…But…You're my only friend, Jin. I trust no one the way I trust you…I never have. If you leave me now…I don't know. I won't be able to become strong and I'll waste away…worrying about you. Do you…Do you really have to go that badly? The day…It isn't over yet. Couldn't you stay until dawn, at least? You…You can't possibly have rested enough to…to get to where you need to go."

"For you, it won't matter if I leave now or at dawn. It'll still hurt," Jin stated, and he was right as always. He placed one gentle hand on Yua's shoulder and used the other to force her to look up at him again. "Yua, you have to learn to believe in yourself…and to trust others like Xiao and Panda. I'm not the best person in the world to be clinging to…The Devil Gene I inherited from my father could cause me to do the unthinkable at any moment if I'm not careful. There are better people in this world with purer hearts for you to be calling friend. But I can see that that doesn't matter to you right now, as you have not met any of those people. I promise you, Yua, that this is not our last goodbye. We will meet again someday…And when we meet again, we will both be stronger people."

"Don't promise. Swear it," Yua murmured.

"I swear that we'll see each other again," Jin vowed, though he felt a little silly doing so.

Yua reached up and knocked his hood from his head so she could see his face one last time. He didn't care about that action as he might have if they were not in a friend's home where he was safe from being seen by the enemy. The purple-haired girl, who wasn't all that much younger than he was, hugged her only friend as tightly as she could, burying her face in his jacket as the tears fell in front of him again. He awkwardly put his arms around her in return, closing his eyes for just a moment as he let himself become human for once around this girl instead of just some invincible avenger. She grew bold for the first time in her life, and tilted her chin up to place her lips upon Jin's. His eyes flashed open in surprise at her action, and she quickly pulled away in fear that she had overstepped her boundaries. She turned her back on him to hide the crimson color that had seeped into her skin as tears continued to fall from her pale blue eyes.

"…Goodbye, Jin Kazama," she whispered without looking back at him.

"…Goodbye, Yua Ran," Jin muttered, and when she finally turned around, he was gone.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Well, I thought this would just be a One-Shot originally, but at this rate, it's far too long for that. So this is the end of Part One. What did you think of it? Please tell me without flaming. Thank you for reading this, and have a wonderful day._


	2. Part Two

_A/N: Not much to say other than here's Part Two and I hope you enjoy it. Please read on._

* * *

><p><strong>Lost In You-Part Two<strong>

A year passed with the absence of Jin and the Tekken Force. Yua grew accustomed to her new living arrangements, and Xiaoyu warmed up to Jin's new female friend over time. They became close friends along with Panda, and for the first time in years Yua could say she was truly happy. No one here bullied her or harassed her or attacked her. She was accepted for the first time in her life just for being her and not some carrier of a powerful gene.

And from that acceptance, she grew into something stronger.

Yua learned to fight, but not in the style that Xiaoyu and Panda used. She found a dojo in the city that taught karate, and went there to train from early in the morning to late at night. It gave her something to do while her friend was at school in Japan, and it helped her to grow up away from her old self. She had sworn to herself the night that Jin left that she would become stronger. She let her old self fade away—no longer would she allow herself to be consumed by panic and fear so easily and no longer would she be a burden that needed constant protecting—and her new, stronger self blossom with every punch and kick she delivered into the punching bag.

She trained with Xiaoyu and Panda with her style of fighting as often as she could as well. Despite her size, the Chinese girl proved to be a handful in battle and knocked Yua flat on her back the first few times they fought against one another. Over time, however, the purple-haired woman became strong enough to face Xiaoyu without being so easy to defeat. They became almost equally matched, but since the Chinese girl had more experience in fighting, she usually came out on top. Panda was a similar case. But still, even they had to admit that Yua had come a long way from the scared little girl clinging to Jin's arm when danger presented itself.

What truly made Yua strong was her purpose in life. She had found it that night that Jin had left, which fueled her every movement and made her who she had become. Her purpose was a simple one—reunite with Jin when she was strong enough to do so. She never told anyone this; she was afraid that Xiaoyu and her friend Miharu might laugh at her if they knew. But this simple promise to herself, this simple reason to live, drove Yua to try her hardest at everything she did and not cower in fear of the unknown. She would never be that little girl she had been in Heihachi's captivity with her back against freedom while she was being beaten to a pulp. If she was ever that weak again, then she would never deserve to meet Jin again.

So she kept training, kept learning, and kept fighting until her knuckles were bleeding and her legs were hardly strong enough to support her body…Trying to become as strong as she could…Waiting for the day that she could be worthy of reuniting with Jin.

That day came much sooner than expected.

Xiaoyu received an e-mail from an unknown source that she didn't show Yua. All the Chinese girl said was she had been invited to the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4, a tournament hosted by Heihachi Mishima, and she had to go in order to protect Jin. She left with Panda, ordering Yua to stay put because Jin wanted her to stay out of harm's way. The purple-haired woman waited a couple of days before she, too, headed out after Jin, certain the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4 was just a means to draw him out in the open for Heihachi to capture. Even if it might cost her the freedom she had obtained with Jin's help, she to keep him from falling into Heihachi's trap.

So she entered the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4 as well…

Because her purpose was on the line.

* * *

><p>Yua defeated her fourth opponent in the tournament, just barely making it through the fight as the victor. Marshall Law lay on the ground, knocked out by her final kick in front of all the witnesses she needed in order to confirm her victory. Her opponents to date had been Christie Monteiro, Paul Phoenix, Craig Marduk, and now Marshall Law. Only three more people and she would be granted the 'privilege' of facing Heihachi for the crown. Not that she really cared about winning this whole thing. She just wanted to find Jin and get him out of the tournament before the Tekken Force got him.<p>

She knelt down next to Law to make sure he was fine despite the damage he had done to her during their fight. He still had a pulse, and surely he would wake up soon. The streets had cleared with the ending of their fight, so no one could see the kindness she displayed to her fallen opponent by lifting his body off the ground and placing it onto a nearby bench. He had been a worthy opponent that nearly defeated her on several occasions. Most of her opponents had put her in a similar predicament during their battles. She always made sure they weren't lying on the ground for anyone to beat, even lifting them off the ground and carrying them away from its filth if she could. Marduk and Phoenix had been hard—Marduk more so than any other—but even they did not escape her kindness. They had been worthy adversaries, and thusly they deserved some respect.

Then she turned on her heel and headed further into Japan. All participants in the tournament came here, for the final stage was held in this country as it was Heihachi's homeland. Even Jin would be drawn here because of his purpose in life. He was to put an end to the Mishima line of evil, and this tournament gave him the perfect opportunity to do so. It was Heihachi's trap for the poor man, one he probably stumbled into blindly. She had to find him before he came to the final stage. She had to save him before it was too late.

Her cell phone, which she had gotten as a gift from Xiaoyu, made a beeping noise as the coordinates for her next fight were sent to her upon confirmation that she had won her last fight. She pulled it out of her pocket and flipped it open to read the directions. She was smart enough not to register for the tournament with her real name—doing that would just get her caught by the Tekken Force a lot quicker—and thus the directions did not say that Yua Ran would be fighting in this parking garage. But she wasn't surprised by her alias's name appearing there.

She was surprised by her opponent's name…

Jin Kazama.

Yua had never expected to have to fight him. She had only worried about being pitted against Panda or Xiaoyu because then they would know she had gone against their wishes. The thought of having to face Jin had never crossed her mind. But the improbable had become probable, and now she was going to meet him again after all this time. She had changed a lot in the course of the year and had become stronger. How much stronger would Jin have become? Would he recognize her once he saw her, or would he just try to take her out in his hurry to end the Mishima line? Yua may have become strong, but she doubted that she had become strong enough to defeat Jin. If he fought her, she wouldn't last against him. She might even be destroyed by his might.

The thought of how such a battle would end would have made the old Yua tremble in fear. But Yua Ran had changed. She did not tremble with fear as she thought about facing Jin in a fight. Rather, she smiled, glad for the challenge, but more importantly, happy that she would find her friend at last. She reached back to tighten her ponytail before sprinting off in the direction of the parking garage where she would meet Jin.

It seemed empty when she walked in silently. The only cars parked in this place were in the very back, and there were only two of them. It was dark and eerie in the parking garage, almost fitting for the reunion of these friends. They always met under dark circumstances, and their entire friendship had started under the cover of darkness. This wouldn't be much different, would it?

As she waited for Jin to make his appearance, she wondered again if he would recognize her. Her hair had grown a little longer, but it hadn't really changed. Her height and weight was about the same, only her weight was more muscle now than it was before. Her clothes had, of course, changed since their last encounter. She now wore a white spaghetti strap shirt under that black jacket he had given her, purple fingerless gloves with protective metal braces on the back, purple shorts that went down to her knees with black flame designs on them, and black boots with low heels. Her outfit was a bit more revealing than it had been when he left her, but it gave her flexibility more of a chance to be used.

But even her outfit did not make her question whether or not Jin would recognize her.

It was the way she carried herself.

No longer did she tremble in fear or hide from her threats. No longer did she doubt herself and believe that she was better off dead. She carried herself the way a confident woman ought to, something she didn't believe Jin would expect of the weak little girl he had left that faithful night. Despite all the other things that were the same about her, the look in her eyes and the way she stood would probably throw him off about her identity.

She felt someone's presence behind her and turned around to see a figure detach himself from the shadows. She recognized his silhouette before he came into the poor lighting of the parking garage. Yua was almost surprised by how little he seemed to have changed in a year's time. He still dressed the same and kept his face hidden behind that hood of his, trying even now to keep his identity hidden despite having given his real name while registering for the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4. Some things never changed. But perhaps that was for the better.

"Jin Kazama," Yua commented in Japanese as he came to a stop just inches from her.

"Let's get this over with. I have more important people to fight than you," Jin muttered as he brought his fists up in front of him in preparation for their battle.

Yua shook her head. "I didn't come here to fight. I didn't enter this accursed tournament for that. Just consider this fight yours and forget about the tournament for a moment."

Jin did not lower his guard; he didn't recognize or trust her.

"Are you blind, Jin? I am not your enemy. I have never been your enemy. Don't you remember who I am?" Yua asked. "It's me, Yua Ran. You left me with Xiaoyu and Panda a year ago so the Tekken Force couldn't catch us both. Don't tell me you've forgotten me already. Not after we were stuck together for weeks with me clinging to your arm like a helpless little child."

The dark-haired man froze. "…Yua? What are you doing here? Why did you enter the King of Iron Fist Tournament?"

"I didn't do it for the same reason as you, that's for sure. I never want to go against Heihachi…Or at least, not until I have more than a year's worth of fighting experience. Trying to fight him now would just end badly for me," Yua assured him. "I entered it to find you. It was the only way I knew to do so. I wanted to find you…And to tell you this is all a trap to lure you out. Heihachi knew you wouldn't be able to resist the chance to take him out and put an end to the Mishima line, so he hosted this tournament to draw you out and make you easier to find. Don't you see? This whole tournament is one huge trap, and you need to get out of it before it's too late."

"…I'm aware of what it is," Jin said as he lowered his hands to his sides again. "But I don't care. The Tekken Force hasn't found me yet, and you're my sixth opponent. You and one other person separate me from finishing Heihachi off for good. I am too close to defeating him to turn away now. No one can change my mind about this, not even you."

"But Jin! The Tekken Force know where you are right now! They've known your every move since you entered this damn tournament! They've been waiting for the right moment to strike, to get you offguard and take you down to bring back to their master! You've lucked out thus far with not getting caught by them! Don't press your luck any further, Jin! Leave the tournament now before your life is taken from you!" Yua urged.

Jin gave her a small smile. "…You really have grown, Yua. If you were still as you used to be, I doubt you would have come anywhere near this tournament. You would probably be hiding in Xiao's closet waiting for the whole thing to end and praying for my safety. But now that you've become strong, you're actually facing danger and trying to keep me safe. I admire your growth. However, it doesn't change my mind about this. So if you're not going to fight me, admit defeat so I can move on to the next opponent so I can be one step closer to defeating Heihachi."

Yua scowled. "I knew it wasn't going to be easy to deter you from this, but I thought…I thought I might have a chance of talking you out of it. Since I can't, I suppose I have to at least try bringing you out of it the hard way." She took her battle stance, surprising Jin. "If I defeat you, you'll have no choice but to leave the tournament. I know you have the upper hand in this since you've had years of training in martial arts. I stand little chance against someone as strong as you. Still…I have to try. It's the only way to keep you safe and to save you from your overpowering desire for revenge."

"Are you certain that you want to go through with this?" Jin asked as he raised his fists in front of him again.

The purple-haired woman nodded before she launched her first attack. He blocked her kick with his arm easily and dodged her punch before forcing her away. She blocked his punches with both of her arms and jumped to avoid his kicks aimed at her legs. They fought with their karate styles; Yua was shocked to see that Jin no longer used any part of the Mishima style anymore. He had unlearned it completely in their year apart. How hard had he trained to accomplish that? How many times did he train until he bled? Did he ever rest for a moment in his training, or did he keep going until the fatigue overtook him? While fighting him and dodging his powerful attacks, Yua realized that she and he were much alike. They had trained themselves restlessly over this past year, determined to become stronger for their own reasons. Their purposes in life depended on their strength increasing and them becoming as strong as possible. Jin had little room for improvement with all the strength he already possessed, but Yua had much to learn in order to become her strongest. Still…She had to try…

One last punch to the gut and a kick to the side knocked Yua flat on her back and gasping for air. Jin hadn't even been facing her with his full strength—he was holding back because he knew she wasn't powerful enough to face his best—and he had hardly broken a sweat. They hadn't even fought five minutes and she was already wiped. She knew she couldn't fight him anymore; it wouldn't change things, anyway. But…

"Give up now, Yua. I don't want to hurt you," Jin stated, standing over her body with his face exposed as she had managed to knock his hood off during their fight.

Yua conceded and pulled out her cell phone to inform the host of the tournament that she had lost to Jin as he informed the host that he had defeated her under her alias. He helped her to stand, but she pushed him away from her in frustration. He didn't understand.

"You're being an idiot! Look, I understand that you want to make Heihachi pay for betraying you when he found out about the Devil Gene in you, but what you're doing is suicide! Heihachi won't play fair with you! Even if you make it to the final stage of the tournament to fight him without the Tekken Force getting to you first, he'll still do everything in his power to capture you! You cannot escape it once you step in there! Why can't you see past your need for revenge? Why can't you just leave it alone until he's not expecting you?" Yua demanded. "Are you that blind by your desire for revenge that you do not care about the trap you're walking into and what will happen to you once you're snared? Are you in that much of a hurry to die? I had no idea…that I was trying to rescue a suicidal fool!"

Words he had once said to her came back to be used against Jin. He had said the same thing to her when she admitted that she felt unnecessary to the world, and that the world would lose a burden if she died. Those words had been followed by an inspirational message that gave Yua the strength to continue on, but now they had another purpose. She saw something flicker in his warm brown eyes from what she said, but it was gone before she could identify that emotion only to be replaced by anger.

"You have no idea what you speak of here, Yua. You know nothing of my feud with the Mishima bloodline," Jin growled.

"I know more than you think. Remember, I was Heihachi's prisoner for a year and gained quite a bit of knowledge while being his lab rat. Heihachi betrayed you when he discovered you possessed the same gene as his son Kazuya because he wanted your power and was willing to eliminate you to get it. Had you not transformed into the devil within then, you might not be standing here now. He used you and then tossed you aside for his own needs, and thus you hate him and everything he stands for. I know what drove you to this tournament, Jin. I'm not stupid," Yua bluntly stated.

Jin was surprised by how much she knew; he assumed Heihachi had a habit of bragging about his self-righteous accomplishments to his followers and that was how she had figured out why Jin hated him so. But he did not have any more time to waste arguing with Yua on the matter. Time was not on the side of a man being hunted by his prey's military force. He had wasted enough time here as it was, and not only would that put him in danger, but Yua as well. Heihachi had need of them both—capturing them here together would make leaving her a year ago pointless.

"…I've wasted enough time arguing with you. I have more important matters to attend to, and if you are as smart as you claim to be, you'll be leaving here as quickly as you can," Jin muttered, turning away from her as his phone made a noise to inform him who his next opponent was and where they would meet.

"Oh, so I suppose I'm not important anymore," Yua countered, watching him bitterly while he glanced at his cell phone with her arms crossed over her chest.

Her friend ignored her completely as he read the name of his opponent with wide eyes. "…Kazuya Mishima…" That was all the information he had received. There weren't even directions leading him to where they would fight. It just said that name, and that was enough to confuse the man.

Yua herself was surprised to hear that name, enough so that she forgot about her anger for a moment. "Kazuya Mishima? I thought…I thought Heihachi killed him twenty years ago by throwing him into a volcano. How could he still be alive? Even with the Devil Gene, is it possible…?"

They didn't have time to discuss this, for just as she had been pondering this new development, the sound of helicopters overhead made itself known. It was a sound both of them knew too well. It meant that the Tekken Force had found them and had come to take them away to Heihachi. Yua found herself trembling in fear for the first time in a year—those helicopters really brought back some bad memories that even now could bring her to her knees. She knew she couldn't escape before the Tekken Force would descend, and that meant Jin couldn't, either. They were truly trapped.

"Jin…," she whispered as she watched Jin's reactions to this situation.

"Go hide, Yua. They don't know that you are here because you were going under an alias. They're only here for me. Go as far back into the parking garage as you can and remain hidden in the shadows. Use your powers if you must. Just stay hidden and don't come out, no matter what happens," Jin commanded.

Yua wished she had time to argue, but she didn't. She quickly turned on her heel and ran silently to the back of the parking garage. She pressed her back against the wall as her fears began to play out on her face again—she hadn't been this afraid since she heard the Tekken Force attacking the hotel she and Jin left just seconds before their appearance. The power of the Angel Gene inside of her activated in response to this intense fear, allowing her body to melt into the wall so even if the Tekken Force knew she was there, they couldn't grab her or even really hurt her. She was safe…

But the same could not be said for poor Jin.

She watched from her hiding place as the Tekken Force surrounded Jin in the dimly lit parking garage, dressed in their armor and helmets that disguised their human identities. There were a lot more than seven of them this time around, and surely if Jin managed to take these ones down, others would come to take their place. Yua felt tears in her eyes, wondering if there was any chance that the dark-haired man could make it through this fight with his life and his freedom.

Jin fought well, taking out scores upon scores of the Tekken Force where Yua would have failed. His strong heart wouldn't allow him to be taken down so easily. But the numbers game beat him down—the Tekken Force just wouldn't disappear—and they eventually had him on the ground with no way of getting up. Tranquilizing darts were shot into him to knock him out for a good long while, a courtesy they were probably forced to show him by orders of Heihachi. It was all Yua could do not to burst into loud crying as she watched the great Jin be carried away by the Tekken Force.

She stood there within the wall in silence for a moment when the conscious Tekken Force had cleared out, too sad to move and wondering what she should do now. Xiaoyu would not be happy to hear that Yua left Jin to the Tekken Force like this. Her friend might even call her a coward—and wasn't that the truth? Yua had never hidden from anything ever since Jin left her. She considered herself strong enough not to hide anymore. But that was just a lie; she was still a coward underneath this new strong exterior. If she had truly changed, she couldn't just let Heihachi get his way. She couldn't just let the Tekken Force take Jin away from her again. Though she knew she couldn't fight them and win, she knew she had to do something to free Jin from them.

Yua would have to follow them, and find a way to get Jin alone before saving him.

The purple-haired woman pulled herself out of the wall and rushed out of the parking garage just as the Tekken Force's helicopters took to the skies again. With little hesitation, she allowed her Angel Gene to grant her powers again. Wings made of pure white light sprouted from her back to carry her into the sky behind the helicopters. One giant flap and she was flying after the helicopters, just low enough and behind enough not to be detected by those she pursued.

Jin had saved her from Heihachi's captivity—now it was her turn to try.

* * *

><p>The helicopters landed some time later in a forested area near some sort of temple in the middle of nowhere. Yua made sure to keep her distance and landed in the forest rather than the clearing where the helicopters touched down. Her wings folded behind her back as she watched the Tekken Force leave the choppers and head into the Japanese temple. A few were carrying Jin with them to their master. She waited until there were no soldiers left behind running into the open at an inhuman speed towards that unknown place where Heihachi was probably awaiting Jin's arrival. No one saw her before she melted through the wall into the building.<p>

Yua stayed within the wall, moving through the maze that was Heihachi's temple, trying to find where they were taking Jin while avoiding detection. She lost the Tekken Force with Jin a few times since this place had so many turns that were hard to follow, but she wouldn't let herself fail Jin when he had risked everything to save her in a similar situation a year ago. She eventually found her way when she spotted familiar soldiers leaving a room with double doors. Believing this to be the place where they had taken Jin, she moved through the walls to see what was on the other side.

This room was lit only by torches and looked more traditional than the rest of this place. Heihachi was there alone with the unconscious Jin, wrapping the young man in chains as he suspended Jin high in the air. Jin was no longer in his usual clothes. Heihachi had changed him into a pair of black-and-white pants along with some sort of wrapping around the bottoms of his feet; the only thing the same about his outfit were his gloves. He was topless now, and Yua could see black marks on Jin's arms. The ones on his arms were not caused by the Devil Gene—their origins lie elsewhere outside of Yua's knowledge. She feared what Heihachi would do to Jin now that he had the young man where he wanted him.

"After I finish your father, I'll be back to collect my power from you," Heihachi stated, turning his back on the unconscious Jin and leaving the room.

Yua waited until she was sure Heihachi was gone before she pulled away from the wall. She assumed the old man was going to the final stage of the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4 to defeat Kazuya and bring him back here to sap the full power of the Devil Gene from his son and grandson. He wouldn't be gone long, perhaps twenty or thirty minutes at the most. Could she get Jin out of here before then?

It wouldn't be as easy as it had been to sneak in here, that was for certain. Yua could only melt through the walls by herself. She couldn't grant the same power to Jin, especially since he possessed the Devil Gene. She also wouldn't be strong enough to carry him while flying unless she turned completely into the angel, and there was no telling how Angel Yua might react to holding someone with the Devil Gene flowing through their veins. This was going without even addressing the possibility of having to fight the Tekken Force to get out of here. She may be stronger, but she doubted she would stand a chance against them even now.

She would have to wake Jin up before she could even think of escaping.

Her wings of white light sprouted from her back again so she could reach Jin and break him free of those chains. The marks of the Devil Gene were appearing on his chest, but she wasn't sure what made them appear. Yua grabbed him as the chains fell away from his wrists, wondering what was going on in his mind when she felt him shudder in her arms. Heihachi must have injected him with something before she had found him and he was seeing things in his mind, for he muttered Kazuya's name in distaste often and kept saying no over and over. He hadn't ever seen his father before. How else would he know who the man was if not for Heihachi doing something? It was probably because of that that he had the Devil Gene marks on his chest, too.

She laid him down on the floor when her feet touched down, wings once again disappearing into her back. She tried shaking him awake, calling his name, but it didn't work and she hardly expected it to do so. He had been knocked unconscious by tranquilizers, so it would take more than that to stir him, especially if Heihachi was messing with his mind. It would take the touch of Angel Yua's power, if she was lucky. But would it work? The angel never responded well to the devil. The devil in her blood might have weakened in this past year since she hadn't had the Devil Gene shot into her in a long time, but the angel would still recognize its threat and might turn on Jin. She didn't want to hurt him…or herself for that matter.

But she had to try to help him in order to save him, even it hurt them.

Yua let the Angel Gene's power seep into her and watched as her right hand became nothing but pure white light attached to her body. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before placing her light-hand on his chest over the black marks of the devil. Pain shot through her, and it was all that she could do not to scream and alert the Tekken Force that she was there. Jin hissed in pain from the contact of the angel on the devil, but as he was trapped in his own world, he did not come close to screaming. Yua forced herself to stand against the pain as she allowed her soul to melt into his mind in order to make him wake up from his living nightmare.

The purple-haired woman found herself in his living nightmare, but not really a part of it. Her pale blue eyes widened when she saw what torment he was experiencing. The large bust of a man that looked a lot like Jin appeared three times over around the trembling man she knew, taunting him and trying to get him to give into the darkness of the Devil Gene like he had. She assumed that man taunting Jin was supposed to be Kazuya, but could not be completely certain as she had never seen him before, either. Jin was struggling to ignore it, to stay himself and not give into his hatred wholly so the Devil Gene could take control. If someone didn't intervene soon, he wouldn't be able to hold out to stay Jin.

She tried to step towards Jin, but found that she couldn't move. Gray, thorny vines were wrapped around her legs, holding her in place. They were a result of the Devil Gene fighting her off because of her Angel Gene, trying to keep her away from the human it lived inside. Yua attempted to pull away from the vines, but the Devil Gene was stronger than her soul alone. The Angel Gene came to her aid and burned the vines with its pure fire, sending them screaming away. More evil vines came towards her, but she wouldn't give them a chance to grab her now. She ran towards the trembling Jin, staying one step ahead of his repelling Devil Gene defenses, and reached him just before he reached his breaking point.

Yua wrapped her arms protectively around his soul, blocking out the voice of his father forced into his mind by his grandfather. His eyes, which had been shut the whole time he had been taunted by Kazuya, flashed open in shock when he felt another soul touching his. He glanced down at her with his warm brown eyes, not expecting her to be there. She did her best to smile up at him, but it was hard with the thorns of the Devil Gene defense stabbing into her soul. She didn't use the Angel Gene's power here because she was afraid it would hurt Jin and she'd rather hurt than hurt him. Jin gained control of himself again and forced the vines to withdraw from her. It hurt as they did so, what with blood spilling over from her damaged soul, but at least she had saved him from giving into the anger and hatred and the lure of the Devil Gene.

"Jin," she whispered. "You need to wake up. We have to get out of here before Heihachi returns. Forget your anger for now. If you stay here…He'll end you and Kazuya together. I don't want that…"

"Yua, you shouldn't have come after me. Now not only am I in danger of being useful to Heihachi, but so are you. I appreciate you saving me from the allure of darkness, but that was a foolish choice," Jin said in a soft voice, almost like he regretted wishing her away.

"I don't care. Life would be without a purpose again for me if you were to disappear from it forever because of Heihachi Mishima," Yua stated, surprising Jin by the boldness of her words. "My purpose in life was to meet you again when I became strong enough to do so. Now that I have found you again, I'm not going to let you go so easily. I'll die before I let Heihachi or Kazuya get you. If they want you, they'll have to kill me first."

"…Heihachi wouldn't kill you; you know that," Jin pointed out.

"He'd have no choice this time around. There would be no chance of him capturing me this time. Heihachi would either have to let us go or take my life from me, and I doubt he would let us leave here without hassle. Jin, I've fought too hard to find you to let you become the victim of Heihachi and Kazuya's power struggle. I'm not going to hide in the shadows just to save my own skin anymore. Xiao would kill me if I let the worst happen to you without trying to save you…And I would just hate myself. Even if this is a foolish choice, it's one I'll make without regret," Yua stated.

Her soul sensed the approach of someone outside her body, and she knew their time was running low.

"Jin, you have to wake up now, or we'll both be in a lot of trouble without any way to fight against it," Yua urged, pulling away from his soul because she needed to return to her body immediately. "Be prepared, for both your father and grandfather are coming. You may need to fight them both, and if the need shall arise, I will help you if I must."

"You stay out of it. You're too inexperienced to stand a chance against either of them," Jin remarked, though he said it in a way that wasn't truly condescending.

Then both their souls returned to control their bodies. Yua melted into the floor to avoid being seen by Heihachi and Kazuya as they stepped into the room. Jin was standing to meet them, more than ready to fight without the black marks on his chest anymore. This surprised both Mishima men—Heihachi had no idea how Jin had regained consciousness so quickly—but not enough to really give the young man an advantage. Kazuya moved forward to fight Jin first, and his father let him. If they destroyed each other, it would make his work so much easier. Yua moved along the floor to stand inside a wall instead, avoiding detection the whole time by sheer luck.

The Devil Gene that remained in her blood reacted to Kazuya's appearance, and why shouldn't it? It was his blood that Heihachi had been putting in her, after all, and thus it was a part of him. His one crimson eye turned in her direction—the reaction was not solely on her part, it seemed—and she feared that he could see her despite being a part of the wall. Heihachi looked with him and saw nothing, but sensed something familiar there. Yua held her breath. Jin paid their distraction no heed and continued to attack his father, knocking the Devil Gene-possessed man out cold. It was Kazuya's own fault for allowing himself to be distracted by his and Yua's blood reaction.

Heihachi mocked Kazuya for his foolish action as he assumed his battle position. Jin paused only for a moment to catch his breath, but that moment was all Heihachi needed to throw his grandson off.

"You cannot fool me, Yua Ran. I sense you hiding in this room," Heihachi declared, shocking both Jin and the girl that was a part of the wall. "Once I finish off this boy, you're next, and there will be no chance of escape for you this time. You would have done well enough to stay away and let me forget about you. How careless of you to allow yourself to fall into my hands over some stupid feelings for this evil child!"

Yua kept to the wall despite being angered by Heihachi's words, but what he said lit a fire within Jin. He attacked with anger rather than reason, and the old man was easily able to counter his moves. Jin took a beating at the beginning of their fight, making Yua afraid that he would lose. He managed to regain his wits, however, over time and turned the tables. Both men were nearly breathless when the end of the fight drew near. One last attack would end this for one of them. Yua held her breath once again, praying that Jin would not be lost to her now.

Then Heihachi dodged Jin's attack and prepared to finish him off. Yua's pale blue eyes widened in fear, and her body moved on its own without her thinking even the smallest of thoughts. She pulled out of the wall, moving to intercept Heihachi's fist before it could hit Jin and end this fight. The speed at which she moved was inhuman and could only be caused by the Angel Gene, causing the movements of the fighting men to look like they were in slow motion. She managed to come between them just in time, and took the full force of Heihachi's punch right in her chest.

Heihachi and Jin's eyes widened in shock to see the carrier of the Angel Gene standing before them and to find that she had taken the finishing blow herself. Pain rattled through her body—she coughed up blood all over the old man from the force of the attack—and her legs looked like they might give way at any moment. Her body was not as strong as Jin's; she couldn't have survived a hit like that if she didn't have the powers of the Angel Gene, and even now she would have to transform to keep her life. With an ironic smile, she forced Heihachi away as her whole body became engulfed by the pure white light of her angel form. The men could only stare in wonder was she took to the air to transform into Angel Yua.

Angel Yua looked nothing like Yua. She was a naked woman made only of a pure white light that moved like fire upon her. Her wings were twice the size of her body, and one powerful beat of them could easily blow a man away. Only one spot of her was not made of this light, and that area was just beneath her breasts. A hole of darkness the size of a basketball lay there, caused by the injection of the Devil Gene and the devil eating away at the angel's strength. It had healed a little over the course of the past year, but chances were it would never completely be gone from her. The one dark hole and the blood still trickling from Angel Yua's mouth were the only things marring the magnificence of the angel.

Her eyes, now one solid shade of blue throughout, fixated on Heihachi with anger burning inside of them. Angel Yua pointed an elegant finger at him, reminded now of how he had used her for evil during the few times she had taken over Yua's body to ensure her survival in his captivity. She wished him dead as punishment for his actions. She could not deliver the death blow on him at the moment, unfortunately—she was still healing the fatal damage his attack had caused to Yua—but knew Jin could finish him now. Angel Yua glanced over her light shoulder at the young man with the Devil Gene and conveyed her message without needing to speak. Jin nodded once at her before turning his full attention back to Heihachi.

Heihachi was knocked flat on his back before he could tell what hit him. Jin moved in for the kill with the black marks of the Devil Gene reappearing on his chest. Angel Yua shrank away from his presence when she felt the devil within Jin come to the surface. Black feathered wings sprouted from his back as he prepared to deliver the final blow. Would killing Heihachi here and now grant the devil the chance to take over Jin just as the Devil Gene had taken over Kazuya? Angel Yua didn't want to find out, and thus turned her back on the scene. She didn't want Jin to become evil for ending Heihachi's unworthy life. It wasn't worth it.

For one reason or another, Jin chose not to kill Heihachi. He just threw his body back, which caused Angel Yua to look back at them to find the devil marks were gone again.

"Thank my mother, Jun Kazama," Jin murmured to Heihachi, cluing Angel Yua into what had made the young man reconsider his decision to end the old man's life. He turned his back on the weak Heihachi, know the old man was too beat up to take advantage of that motion, and glanced up at the winged light-form above. She understood it was time to go, and together they flapped their wings to break the hell out of there through the roof.

Thus the angel flew away with the devil.

* * *

><p>The duo touched down just outside civilization, wingless and, in Yua's case, back in her human form. Being possessed by the angel within for such a long period of time and after receiving such a hit from Heihachi made the purple-haired woman exhausted; she could hardly stand on her own anymore. She wasn't alone in this, as the fighting and the flying together tired Jin out. Despite the chances that Heihachi might have sent the Tekken Force after them despite what just happened to him, they decided to rest awhile until their strength returned.<p>

Yua slipped out of her black jacket, glad that becoming the unclothed Angel Yua did not affect her clothing state, and handed it over to Jin. He had lost his shirt when Heihachi had changed his clothes on him back there, and he couldn't just waltz back into civilization dressed like that. The King of Iron Fist Tournament 4 was no longer in session; people couldn't dress any way they wanted without receiving strange glances anymore. She might not be the same size as him, but at least it would be better than nothing until he could get other clothes again. He took it from her with very little hesitation, perhaps having already realized this himself, but did not put it on just yet. She didn't mind and let herself fall on her back on the grass, feeling like she could sleep for days on end if it was possible.

"…Yua, why did you do that?" Jin asked suddenly, and he didn't have to clarify.

"…He was about to finish you off. I…I couldn't let him land that attack on you because then he'd get what he wanted from you and me. You saw how I fared against you. I wouldn't have stood a chance against him. So I made myself useful and protected you because I have an angel within me that won't let me die that easily," Yua replied. "Besides, I told you before when we met in your mind. I'd give my life if it meant Heihachi and Kazuya couldn't get you. In this game called life, I'm not as important a piece as you are."

"You don't know that for certain. You're just assuming," Jin commented. He smiled a small smile as he lay on the grass beside Yua. "But…I appreciate what you did…for the both of us. If not for you, who knows what might have happened in there when my father and Heihachi showed up. Kazuya might have ended me before Heihachi had the chance."

"I doubt it, Jin. You're too strong and have too pure a heart to be defeated so easily. I believe that even if I hadn't shown up, you would have still been the victor of those battles," Yua said, leaving no room for argument.

"You have too much faith in me, Yua. What if I'm not the strong, pure-hearted hero you see me as? What if I'm the same as the other Mishima men underneath this hero exterior you admire so? I carry with me the same potential to be evil as Heihachi and Kazuya. How can you trust me knowing that?" Jin wanted to know.

Yua smiled at him. "Because I know your heart and soul. We all carry that potential to be evil, you know. It's our hearts and souls that decide whether we bask in the light or hide in the shadows. Your heart and soul are merely full of pain, which clouds the purity within and makes it appear that you have darkness instead. I've seen your purity with my own eyes several times over. You can believe you are like your forefathers all you like, but I will never doubt you. You shouldn't doubt yourself, either."

Jin managed a wan smile again. "I am glad you came after all, Yua. You really have grown into a stronger woman in just this past year. I wonder how much stronger you can become. Perhaps you'll even be stronger than me someday."

The purple-haired woman blushed. "…Th-Thank you, but I…I'm not the only one who's gotten stronger. You have, too, and I don't think I can ever compete with you, Jin."

"Don't be so sure," Jin commented. "Your heart and soul are purer than mine, and you have the potential to do whatever you want if you set your mind to it. To have become as strong as you have in a single year…It's an amazing feat. You were so driven to be worthy of meeting me again that you surpassed your expectations. If you continue to push yourself like that, you will have no trouble becoming my equal in a couple of years, and then surpassing me might even be possible."

"…Do…Do you really think so?" Yua stammered, flustered by his compliments.

The dark-haired man nodded. "You just have to keep believing in yourself."

Yua grinned like a little fool and giggled like one as well. Xiaoyu had always been hard on her, probably due to her jealousy of another girl getting close to Jin Kazama. That girl claimed there was always room for improvement and barely ever gave Yua a compliment about her strength. But now Jin, who was so hardened against emotion that he hardly ever smiled, was praising her growth and smiling. Wouldn't Xiaoyu just be green with envy when she found out about this? The Chinese girl probably wouldn't even believe Yua. That didn't even matter, really. What mattered was she knew she had grown and other people recognized that, including the man she respected the most in this world.

"Jin…Thank you…for everything you've done for me since we've met," Yua murmured, though she wasn't even sure he could hear her with how quietly she was speaking. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his brown eyes turn to her and knew that he could. "It may sound…kind of girly for me to say this…But if not for you, I never would have become the person I am today. I'd still be that weak little girl in Heihachi's captivity…and not the strong woman you saw today. Everything I am…I owe to you. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. You…You saved me when I was unable to save myself…You gave me hope when I had none…You make me feel like I matter and I can do anything. And for that…I…I…I love you with all my heart and soul. You are my dearest friend…I hope I hold…some of that kind of power…within you as well."

She had probably said too much, but it was too late now and she didn't really regret her words. It was bound to come out eventually—why not now? At least this way she could find out if he felt the same and move on before her heart could become too attached to a man that would never return her feelings. Her pale eyes remained focused on the sky above instead of Jin, though she could still see him with her peripheral vision. She just didn't want to be turned down while looking at him; that wouldn't give her the chance to mask her pain or her emotions.

"Yua…You give me too much credit. I may have inspired you to become who you are now, but you did most of the work yourself. I should be the one thanking you. If not for you, I might not be here now. You saved me when I was about to give into the anger and hatred and let the Devil Gene take control. You risked your own life to save mine. You conquered your fears to keep me from falling into Heihachi's control as you have been. And like you claim I have done for you, you cause me to feel as though I can do anything without following in the footsteps of my forefathers. You do hold some power in my heart, Yua," Jin admitted, and this admission made Yua's heart skip a beat. "…Perhaps even more than Xiao does. I consider you…a dear friend indeed."

The purple-haired woman sat up and turned to Jin despite her flustered face, searching his face for any sign of deceit. She found nothing but a warm smile that reached his beautiful brown eyes. A smile worked its way onto her lips as well—could she say that she was never this happy before?—and for the first time since she went against Xiaoyu's wishes and pursued Jin, she felt at peace. She moved closer to Jin and laid down right beside him, resting her head on his exposed chest as he wrapped an arm around her in response. This peace and happiness she felt, combined with the rhythmic rise and fall of Jin's chest, made her feel even more tired than before. But could she let herself fall asleep when she and Jin were never really out of danger's way…?

"Sleep, Yua. I'll watch over you until you wake up," Jin whispered.

So she dozed off under the watch of her dark-winged guardian angel.

* * *

><p>Xiaoyu paced back and forth in her home while Panda watched, anxious and worried. She had been knocked out of the tournament in her seventh battle, so she didn't find Jin or win the thing, either. Then she had returned home to find Yua had left as well. The note she had found on the fridge apologized for Yua and explained that she was going to find Jin, too. It had been weeks since Yua disappeared, and still there was no sign of her or Jin anywhere. The Chinese girl's anger had dissipated quickly over Yua's leaving against her wishes, replaced only by fear of what might have happened to her friends.<p>

She almost regretted being so hard on Yua all the time over some silly jealousy about Jin.

Her cell phone, which she had left with Panda in her green bag, beeped suddenly with the tone she had assigned for messages received from Yua. Panda recognized the sound and sat up on her haunches to make the bag more accessible for Xiaoyu as she ran over to read the message Yua sent. Was it truly Yua, or was it Heihachi messing with her? Xiaoyu had to know.

The message was longer than a normal text message and it had an attached image. It read:

'_Xiao,'_

'_Thank you for everything you did for me, including going against your inner feelings and letting me live with you for so long. I'll never be able to repay you for your hospitality. I found Jin. He defeated Heihachi but didn't kill him. The Tekken Force will be after us again soon. We're going on the run again until the next tournament gives us a chance to finish him off for good. Hope to see you then, Xiao, but not in combat. Goodbye, our friend. Say hi to Panda for us.'_

'_Yua'_

Xiaoyu found it hard to believe that an inexperienced girl like Yua could have found Jin when she had failed. She was almost tempted to believe that Heihachi had stolen Yua's phone and was trying to mess with her for some unknown reason. But then, would Heihachi even know how to use a cell phone? And could he have taken down both Jin and Yua so easily? There was no doubt that he could defeat Yua—she only had a year's worth of fighting on her—but Jin was not the same simpleton in fighting that the purple-haired girl was now. Could Yua have been telling the truth then?

She opened the attached photo to see what Yua—or less likely, Heihachi—had sent her, and immediately when she saw it she scowled and her hands clenched into fists in anger. The photo was of Yua and Jin lying on the ground together smiling, and Jin was topless and letting her lay her head on his bare chest. They looked so happy together…

"That sneaky little brat!" Xiaoyu exclaimed. "So…That was the real reason you wanted to find Jin, huh? And now that you two are on the run, there's nothing I can do about it! Sneaky, sneaky little brat!"

But underneath that jealous reaction, Xiaoyu was truly happy for her friends finding happiness in each other's company.

With a small smile, she flipped her phone shut.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Well, that's it. What did you think of it all? Please tell me without flaming. Thank you for reading all of this. You have yourself a wonderful day now, okay?_


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